Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater or any of its characters. If I did, we would know more about Soul's past.

A Madness Most Discreet

Soul knew all about madness.

Well, okay, maybe not everything about it. Though he had been paying more attention in class lately, he still didn't have his meister's ability to memorize every single thing being said during a lecture or every paragraph in the textbook.

Still, the weapon probably had more experience with madness than most people his age. Only a select few of his classmates, Maka included, had faced as much madness as he had during his relatively short life.

When people though of the word madness, they always thought about the Kishin Asura first. He went mad with fear and his madness could spread all too easily. He brought forth your worse fears, twisted your thinking, and offered a way to escape it. The cost though had been everything else you had.

There was Medusa's type of madness. Hers was a subtle kind of madness. It would slither up right to your ear, using pretty words to tempt you. It trapped you in its coils; not letting you go as it slowly pulled you deeper and deeper. It made you think that you were making your own choices, but in reality, you were simply playing into Medusa's schemes.

Then there was Arachne. She would paint herself as a target, and make a plain, if simple looking, offer. You would blunder your way towards her, never noticing that you are getting tangled in her webs. She would make you feel useless as if you can't even move; then she would lift you up and you would be so grateful, you willingly surrendered to her.

Noah was something in and of himself. His was the madness of knowledge, no matter which one you would talk about. He would do anything to collect more knowledge in the hopes of doing the impossible and knowing everything there was. Though he would draw people in, he would not go after you unless you had something he wanted or got in the way.

Kid and Black Star had found their own kind of madness in balance and power. According to the stories, they had gone a bit wild when they first found this strength as they tried to figure out what path to take with the madness. After all, being all-powerful was just insane unless there was someone to oppose you or support you. They had managed to temper their madness though by focusing on their goals.

The black blood was wild, just like Crona, the first person to possess it. He didn't know how to handle things, so at first he just did what he was told. When madness overtook him, he did whatever he wanted. With that lost of control came power though, and that's what the

Red Ogre offered. Luckily, he and Maka had found a way to control that power, that madness, without the loss of sanity.

Soul had seen and experienced these types of madness. He knew how to deal with these and had before.

He had no clue how to deal with this type of madness though.

Somehow, it surprised Soul how things had come to this.

When he and Maka first met, they didn't immediately click like Black Star and Tsubaki did. They decided to get together because it suited their interests: Maka wanted a scythe as a weapon and to surpass her parents, while Soul had just gone with the flow and thought that maybe becoming a Death Scythe would be cool. They worked well enough together, but he was surprised at how they managed to stubborn their way through collecting their 99 souls the first time. After all, Maka hadn't had a hang of her soul perception and they'd barely been able to resonate.

They'd come a long way since then, and Soul thought that it was probably a blessing that Blair had been their 100th soul. If he had become Death Scythe then, the two of them probably would have parted without much fuss. However, they had done so much since then as partners. They had actually got to know each other better and became friends. They had faced countless foes and battles and managed to defeat them together. They had even been one of the people to face the Kishin on the Moon!

Now, soul resonance between him and Maka was as easy as breathing. He couldn't even begin to think of having a different partner, despite the constant requests. No one knew him as well as Maka, and no one certainly cared as much as her. She was his partner and his best friend, and he couldn't imagine anyone else by his side.

This, of course, lead to his current problem.

It had started as light touches after he had been slashed open by Crona, simple comfort and worried looks after he had nightmares or when his scar acted up. Not even his parents had treated him as if he was important and worth their care as Maka did.

They learned how to bandage each others' wounds as generally one or both couldn't avoid getting hurt on missions. It usually happened when they tried to protect each other. Maka always was gentle, and it was so different from the violent girl who didn't hesitate to cave in his skull with one of her books. It had made something in his chest twist, but it hadn't been a terrible feeling.

Soul had started to notice her then. She was still growing in terms of her breasts, but her legs were long and her skirt showed them off. And he knew that if he was noticing, then others probably were as well. People never notice things right away with people that they are constantly together with. He covered it up by continuing his teasing. It wouldn't do for her to know that he was looking.

The letters that started being put in her locker were proof that people were noticing. Some were really just partner requests from weapons, especially after he became a Death Scythe, but some were definitely more of the romantic variety from weapons and meisters both. He would hurriedly toss them out before she could get to her locker, because it was better for everyone. He wasn't about to let some guy he barely knew try to take her out. After all, Maka had enough issues with men without some jerk adding fuel to the fire. Still, he would feel a twinge of guilt as her face fell from all of the letters that he got while she had none. It wasn't worth the Maka Chop to admit to his crimes though.

Then, they started holding hands. It was practical, Soul would protest when Kid or Black Star would point it out. After all, it was easier just to transform into her hand. Also, it prevented them from getting separated from each other. He would never tell him how much he liked the feel of her hand in his and the sense of her soul wavelengths brushing against his, even when they weren't actively using soul resonance.

This had just increased his notice of her. Before he knew it, he paid attention to everything she did, from the way she scrunched her nose when she read something she didn't understand to the panicked look she got when she was forced to play basketball. It was going to drive Soul mad.

All of it led to here. One minute they were arguing over something domestically stupid, like whose turn it was to choose the channel for the night, then Maka slipped and he's flat on his back with her on top of him. She pushed herself up and for a moment, they just looked at each other.

Maka's hair was down for once, so it created a curtain around their faces where it hung. Her bright, green eyes had a mischievous spark in them, no doubt from how she was still keeping the remote from him, and her lips were curled up in a triumphant smile.

His heart pounded in his chest, and for the first time, he was able to fit a word to the feelings that had been growing for Maka since who knew when.

Love.

Maka gave a small gasp and her eyes widened. Belatedly, Soul realized that with how close they were and how much they were touching, his meister could easily read his soul and what feelings were written on it. He glanced away, afraid of her reaction.

Instead, that gentle hand turned his head back towards her and he saw her smile as she brushed her hair behind her ears. "It took you long enough." She said.

Before he could he respond, Maka was leaning down and placing a kiss on his lips.

Something warm filled his chest as he realized his feelings were returned.

It was somewhat amazing. Both of them had so many trust issues, people issues, and family issues all connected and wrapped up in a messy package, but somehow they had learned to trust then fallen for each other. It was probably because they had gone to hell and back together all while being connected at their very souls. They could feel that the other could be trusted.

Soul remembered that in one of Maka's nerdy books that she talked about, love was in itself considered to be a type of madness.

As Maka drew back so they could breath and he saw the happiness and love in her eyes, Soul couldn't help but think that this was a madness that he would gladly fall in.

AN: The title comes from a line in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. So you can see why I used it as it really seemed to fit. After all, people at the DWMA are supposed to fight against madness, but isn't love the greatest madness of all?